The Black Emerald
by scream.your.heart.out-x
Summary: 4th Chapter Up. A story about the Sonic crew, in the search for the most powerful emerald that ever exsisted. Shadouge, possibly Sonamy.
1. The Base

**Disclaimer**- I do **not** own any of these characters in any way imaginable, okay? If you'vegot a problem with that .. Hmm .._Deal with it._ Lol jks, but no, I seriously don't. I'd love to, though.

**The Black Emerald**

**Chapter One - **_The Base_

"Are you telling me that you will not leave that table until you finish that whole plate of chilidogs?!" Amy exclaimed, staring at the blue hedgehog in disbelief.

"Yep," The blue hedgehog, or as others call him, Sonic, replied. He took another one and finished it all in 3 huge bites. Amy kept on looking at him, bewildered.

"Gosh, Sonic!" She continued, "Do you know how many chilidogs are on that plate?!"

"Nope," Sonic replied between chews, "Too much to count."

"ARGH!" Amy yelled to no one in particular, "YOU ARE UNBELIEVABLE!"

A small, girl rabbit walked into the room. "Are you okay, Amy?" She asked innocently, "I heard you shouting, and I could not take my nap."

Amy bit her lip and looked at the rabbit. "Sorry, Cream," she apologized, "Its just that Sonic here is being an immature idiot."

"I am NOT!" Sonic protested, snatching another chilidog. Amy rolled her eyes.

"I'll try to keep the noise down next time," She said to the rabbit, "You can go back to sleep now."

"Thank you, Amy," Cream smiled, flying back to her room upstairs.

Amy turned back to Sonic, giving him a death glare. "Sonic?!" She said dangerously, "If you do not leave that table at ONCE, I will seriously get this Piko-Piko hammer and SHOVE IT UP YOUR BLUE-" The doorbell rang before she could even finish her sentence. She sighed.

"I'll get it," she muttered, walking to the door. It was Knuckles, their friend.

"Knuckles?" Amy said to the guardian, "What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to Sonic," Knuckles replied, stepping in. Amy looked down the floor in horror as he continued to make his way inside.

"THE SHOES, KNUCKLES!" She shrieked, "LOOK WHAT YOU DID TO MY FLOOR!"

Knuckles looked down the floor and saw that he made mud footprints. A sweat drop formed above his head. "Woops," He laughed nervously, "I'm terribly sorry-" He was cut off when Amy shoved a mop and bucket at him.

"Well, you can still talk to Sonic while cleaning," She said, "Now GET A MOVE ON." Knuckles groaned and started to clean, muttering words under his breath.

Sonic walked into the hallway, two chilidogs on each hand. "Did you come all the way from Angel Island, just to clean Amy's floor ?" He smirked, "How nice of you."

Knuckles growled, but kept on cleaning. Sonic loved to tease Knuckles while he's unavailable to attack. But when he's open, Sonic normally keeps his mouth shut.

"I need to talk to you," Knuckles said.

"Go for it, mop boy," Sonic grinned.

Knuckles dropped his mop and walked over to him. "Say what?" He growled. "Eep! I didn't say nothing!" Sonic replied, shaking.

"Good," Knuckles said, going back to his job. "Something crashed next to my Master Emerald this morning," he told them.

"What is it?" Amy asked. "It was big, and gray," Knuckles replied, "It looked like a part of a ship. A rocket, maybe."

"I, being the curious person I am, looked inside it to check what it is. And I saw this glassed case. Although nothing was inside it, there were heaps of documents containing what was inside it."

"And..?" Sonic said impatiently.

"And," Knuckles continued, setting the mop aside, "Inside it used to be an emerald."

"A chaos emerald ?" Amy gasped, "But, that's impossible! Tails has all the 7 emeralds! There cant be anymore anywhere!"

"I'm not finished," Knuckles said, "No, it wasn't a chaos emerald. I find it rather interesting, though."

"Just tell us what it is!" Sonic snapped, who can't take the suspense.

"Ok! Ok!" Knuckles replied, "It was something called a black emerald. Only 3 are within this universe, and one must be in this galaxy. I don't know much more about it, but it sounds powerful to me."

"What do you mean you don't know much about it?" Amy said to him, "You don't even know what it does or what power is inside it?"

"No."

"Hmm.." Sonic thought, "Who in this town would know a lot about emeralds, they could possibly know about this one?"

No one answered him. They all knew who.

Rouge was busy admiring her jewelry when her doorbell rang.

"Who could that be?" She wondered, flying to the door. She was surprised to see Sonic, Amy and Knuckles standing there. "Eh..What are you all doing here?" She asked.

"Cant we visit a friend sometime?" Sonic grinned. Rouge eyed him curiously.

"Right.." She said, "Er..Come in, wont you?"

The trio all sat on her purple, fluffy couch, and the stunning bat sat on the opposite, eyeing them all curiously.

"Speak, Sonic!" Amy whispered, nudging him.

"Ok! Um.." He stuttered. Rouge squinted her eyes on him. "Spit it out, blue boy," She said, "I don't have all day."

"Alright, fine," Sonic said, "We need to ask you something." Rouge sighed.

"If its about my thieving," She said, looking at her nails, "then don't waste your breath. You all know everything there is to know about that."

"No no, its not," Sonic continued, "Its about a certain jewel." Rouge's ears twitched and she leaned closer. "I'm listening," She said.

"Can you tell us more about the black emerald?" Knuckles asked, "That is, if you know anything about it."

"Don't insult me," Rouge replied, smiling, "of course I do. The black emerald is very rare, not much is in our galaxy, let alone the universe. I heard that it contains a power so strong, it overpowers the very 7 chaos emeralds itself."

"Whoa!" Amy gasped, "That is powerful!"

Rouge nodded. "If you think that's powerful, imagine the 3 of them all together!"

"Is there any danger to it?" Sonic asked.

"Yes," Rouge replied, "Its powerful enough to control someone, and if it falls to the wrong hands, we can all bid ourselves goodbye."

"Then we must find it, before someone evil does!" Sonic exclaimed, standing up. "Knuckles, take us to where you found the piece of ship, or rocket, or whatever it is. Maybe Tails can analyze what its made of and figure out where it came from."

"Wait," Rouge said, standing up too, "You mean, there is one in this galaxy?" The three of them nodded. Rouge gasped.

"I have to come with you," She said, grabbing Sonic's arm, "Its fair enough to let me come, I did let you know what you're after."

"I don't see any harm in that," Sonic replied, turning to Knuckles and Amy, "Right, guys?"

"As long as she doesn't do anything sneaky.." Knuckles said, eyeing the bat. Rouge gave him a sly smile.

The four then went to Angel Island, took a piece of the metal, and headed back to Station Square, where they met up at Tails' house to find out more about the metal.

"Hmm," Tails thought, looking at his computer. "It says here that the metal is made of very strong materials, strong enough to be in space."

"Space?" Sonic replied. Tails typed in something on the computer. "I'll have to see if I can find a match for this result in any of my previous searches," he said.

5 minutes passed, and the computer made a beeping sound. "There's a match!" Tails said excitedly, jumping up from his bean bag and flying up to his computer. He read the results and gasped.

"What?" Amy asked, "What? What is it?"

"This metal.." Tails started, "..is the very same metal from Eggman's ships!"

"You mean.." Rouge gasped, "Eggman might actually have the black emerald?" Tails nodded.

"It is possible," he said, rechecking the results, just incase he made a mistake.

"So, a base in space, huh?"

The group turned around to see a black hedgehog standing at Tails' garage door.

"Shadow!" Rouge said.

"How long have you been standing there?" Knuckles asked curiously. Shadow smirked, walking up to them.

"Long enough to hear the whole conversation," he said, "and just for the record, I'm coming with you."

"Wait a minute.." Sonic said, "How are we sure that you are on OUR side? Not the enemy's side?"

Shadow rolled his eyes. "You are such a fool," He said, "How many times have I saved that blue ass of yours?"

"And vice versa!" Sonic protested.

"Right, whatever," The ebony hedgehog said, "Just let me come with you. You'll never know when an extra hedgehog comes in handy."

"Fine then," Sonic said, "Lets go!"

"Everyone, hop in the X-Tornado!" Tails called out, already in the pilot's seat.

"The X-Tornado can go to space now?" Amy asked, taking the seat behind him. "Yep," Tails grinned, pushing buttons and adjusting stuff, "I just upgraded the machine and fixed it up a bit, until it's strong enough to break through the Earth's strong atmosphere."

Soon, everyone was on the ship. Rouge looked over to Shadow. "Shadow..?"

"What?"

She was taken aback by his sudden harshness, but she took a deep breath and continued, "This mission sounds very dangerous.. And I just want to let you know that.. Well.. Be careful out there, okay? I don't want anything to happen to you."

The engines roared loudly, as the X-Tornado took off into space. Shadow was just in time to hear Rouge's words before the engine started. It wasn't long until the X-Tornado settled down, as they left the Earth's atmosphere and floated into space.

Shadow looked over to her, and to her surprise, he smiled. "I will.." He said, "I wont let anything happen to you, either."

Rouge smiled back, safe knowing that her ally is there when she needs him. She continued smiling, unaware of Knuckles' jealous glare behind them.

_**Well, there you go, the first chapter! Hope I didn't do bad, for a first timer. And, ooh la la, the Shadouge-ness starts to blossom! Bahahahaha. But, Shadow smiling? Seems awkward, dontcha think? Shoulda made him smile in later chapters.. But meh, cant be bothered changing it now. Anyways.. R&R !! xx **_


	2. The Search

**A/N : **Wow! First time I've ever uploaded two chapters in 2 days! But…uh…this is my first fan fic, so can't really say anything about that. And, Oh yeah. **Warning, coarse language ahead.** Anyways, **R&R**!!

**The Black Emerald**

**Chapter Two – **_The Search_

For a young kid, Tails has pretty impressive maneuvering skills that was good enough to get past the guarding ships and safely dock the X-Tornado. "And, seatbelts off guys, we're here," he announced.

"This is gonna be so exciting!" Sonic exclaimed, hopping off the X-Tornado. He turned around to face the crew.

"I think it's better if we all split up in groups," he assumed, "To make the search easier."

"Sonic, no!" Amy said, uneasy thinking that she might not be with her hero.

"Its easier that way, and you'll be okay, I promise," Sonic assured her. Amy nodded, but still feeling uncomfortable about the idea.

"I want to be with you, Sonic!" Tails said, flying next to him. Sonic grinned. "Why not?" He said. Amy glared at Tails.

"Not fair!" She exclaimed, "Tails gets to be with you and I get to be with..?" Sonic looked around, and the heavens above must gave him the answer as one of the lights shone down on no one but Rouge.

"You are going to be with Rouge," he said. "What?!" Both the girls exclaimed.

"You can handle her, right?" Knuckles snickered, "After all, the world's greatest treasure hunter can surely handle a 12 year old girl."

Rouge opened her mouth to protest, but Knuckles smirked. She exhaled loudly and frowned. She hates it when he's right. Amy also wasn't at all, happy.

"Why are you all treating me like a kid?!" She demanded, "Seriously, I do things that you guys can do, too! And, possibly better!"

"Amy.." Sonic began, but she stormed off, angrily.

Rouge looked at the boys. They all nodded. She sighed.

"You guys owe me big time," She told them, flying after Amy. Tails looked at Sonic.

"Now what?" He asked.  
"We have to get a move on," Sonic told him, "Lets go. Shadow, you have to join us too." Shadow started walking with them, until he felt a glare coming from Knuckles.

He turned around to face him. "What do you want, Echidna?!" He growled.

"I wasn't talking to you, was I?!" He snapped.

"I felt you staring at me."

"What?! You're saying I'm gay now?!"

"Fool…" Shadow muttered, looking back ahead. "I heard that!" Came a voice behind him. He groaned and turned around.

"Can you seriously fuck off?!" Shadow said coldly.

"Whoa, what's going on?" Sonic asked, walking up to them. Tails followed.

"How do you make him to shut up?!" Shadow asked, annoyed.

"If there's a fool in here, its you, Shadow."

"God, SHUT UP!"

"MAKE ME, EMO!"

"OH, FUCK YOU-"

Sonic grabbed Shadow and Tails grabbed Knuckles before the two can charge at each other. "What's up with you two today?!" Sonic asked, "Why the fighting?!"

"Yeah, you two always seemed to get along nicely," Tails added, "In fact, you guys did before we left Earth..."

"…Maybe Earth's atmosphere has an affect on them," He finally said, after moments of thinking.

"Nah, Shadow's been to space before, and he's still the same, irritating hedgehog we know," Knuckles said, tearing himself away from Tails.

"Irritating?!" Shadow yelled, tearing himself from Sonic also, "Have you heard yourself lately?!"

"You better shut up, before I bash the hell out of you!"

"This is so bad, I bet the girls are doing a better job than we are," Tails said wearily at Sonic. Sonic nodded, covering his ears from the shouting and swearing.

**X-X-X-X-X**

"You seriously don't need to follow me, Rouge," Amy said, walking faster, hoping that she would lose her.

"I know kid," She sighed, "As much as I don't want to, I have to. Now, slow down, will you?!"

"Don't call me a kid!" Amy growled, "And I'll be fine. Now get lost!"

"Get a grip on yourself, Amy! We have to stick together, as much as we don't like it, and you'll have to deal with that fact, got it?!"

Amy gave her a small glare, but didn't say anything. She kept on walking, but slower this time. Rouge looked around the long corridor.

"Is there even an end to this corridor?!" She complained, flying back to the ground, "My wings are aching, and I'm tired."

Amy was about to answer, when out of nowhere, a large group of Eggman's robots came out on one door. Rouge stood back up. Amy got her Piko-Piko hammer out.

"Finally, some fun!" She exclaimed, trying to sound brave. Rouge shook her head, rolling her eyes. Then she yelled, "AMY! WATCH OUT!"

Amy turned back, and got out of the way just in time to dodge the robot. She hammered the robots one by one, as they charge after her. Rouge flew to a line of robots, which stood there, and as she got closer, she noticed their arms turning into canon holes. "Oh shit," she cursed, dodging the rockets as they fly pass her.

"Hiyaa!" She cried, kicking the first robot on the line as hard as she can. The rest toppled down like helpless dominoes. Amy watched helplessly from down below, thinking.

_If only I can do that, _She thought, frowning, _Maybe I could finally impress Sonic, and prove to him that I'm not just a 12 year old girl, but a grown woman! Who knows her moves and how to kick butt-_

"Well, that's settled," Rouge grinned, interrupting Amy's thoughts. She looked around at all the robots she destroyed, "You fine, girl?" She asked Amy.

"Oh…?" Amy asked clueless. Then, going back to her senses, she grinned too. "That was awesome, how you kicked those robots," She smirked, "Not as good as how I hammered them, though."

Rouge raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. She knew that if she objected, she would only make things harder.

"We have got to find that emerald," She said, flying off. Amy followed, but stopped and looked at the robots.

_And only 3 of them I destroyed…_She frowned, walking away.

**X-X-X-X-X**

"Found it yet, Tails?" Sonic asked. Tails looked back at his little GPS, and shook his head.

"How about Rouge?" Shadow asked, "Is she ok?"

Tails looked back again at his GPS, and noticed the 2 green dots, moving further away from them as they continued walking. "Yes, and Amy too," Tails replied.

Knuckles glared at Shadow. "Why do you care, anyway?!" He asked coldly, "I thought you cared about nobody."

"You know? Once you think about it," Shadow growled back, "I don't. I care about no one but Rouge. Now you understand?! Or is it too much for that pea-sized brain of yours to take in?!"

Knuckles grabbed him by the arm and pushed him against the wall. "She's not yours yet, you know!" He yelled at his face, "Don't go around, acting like she's your girlfriend! We all know she's not!"

"She's not!" Shadow snapped back, angrily. He pushed him back onto the opposite wall. "She's my ally, and I promised her that I would never let anything happen to her. Besides, why do you care so much?! Huh?! Are you jealous?!"

"Hah!" Knuckles laughed, then getting serious again, "Jealous of what?! You?! You wish, you fucking-"

"Will you guys just cut it out!" Sonic shouted, pushing both of them apart, "We won't get through with this mission if we all don't cooperate!"

"And don't tell me what to do, Faker!" Shadow yelled back.

"Don't drag me into this, Shadow!" Sonic bellowed, "I'm only trying to make things right!"

"Everyone, STOP!"

It didn't come from Knuckles. Nor Shadow, Nor Sonic. The three turned around and noticed a yellow fox, balling his fists.

"Stop acting immature!" He yelled, "Enough of this!"

Shadow found it hard to yell back at the fox. Somehow, he actually cared about Tails, too. Maybe because he has helped him in some situations, and Shadow knew better to return the favor.

"The kid is right," He said, "Let's stop wasting time and focus more on the emerald." He walked off before anyone could say anything, and soon enough, the boys are on their way again. Sonic waited until everyone calmed down, and hurried up next to Knuckles.

"Hey Knux, can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"I'm not implying anything, but why did you get all angry when Shadow asked about Rouge? I mean, the two are best friends, its fair enough that he would get worried-"

"Listen to me, Sonic," Knuckles whispered, "I'm just worried for Rouge's sake, alright? Maybe Shadow is working with Eggman, and is thinking of getting Rouge into danger. You'll never know what lurks inside that hedgehog's mind."

Sonic looked at his friend in disbelief. "How can you say that!" He stated, "Shadow wanting to actually get Rouge into danger? What are you on? Drugs? Oh, I see now! You are, aren't you?! I know you are! Give them to me now, drugs can destroy your health-"

"I am not on drugs, you idiot," Knuckles responded, "I just don't trust this guy."

"Or maybe you are just…jealous?"

"I am NOT jealous! Listen, remember how he's worked with Black Doom? And Eggman? Seriously, Sonic, how the hell can you trust this guy?!"

The two continued arguing whether Shadow is on their side or not, and Shadow, who is walking in front of them, just listened to the conversation and smirked.

**Oooo!****Which side is really Shadow on? Its kinda hard to tell, yes? The guy is so mysterious! Also, I added a bit of humor here and there, although I didn't overdose it or anything. In fact, I don't find it as funny as I was expecting at all. . LOL, Anyways, I kinda feel that the story isn't focusing on Shadow and Rouge much, mostly on Amy actually…well…for this chapter anyway, so I'll try to set the story straight to the 2 characters more often. And of course, expand their relationship towards each other. Sooo…yeh…that's about it! ****R&R**** please, coz maybe, if I get more reviews and such, I might update this story more often! Yes? Kay, Tc ya'll. xx**


	3. The Possessed

**A/N : **Let me just warn you, so I don't have to keep on repeating myself, lol. From now on, past this chapter, there contains some coarse language. So, yeah. Enjoy. )

**The Black Emerald  
****Chapter 3 - **_The Possessed_

Eggman's base silently orbited around Earth. It was shielded by an invisible force that hides it from any radar, preventing Eggman from getting caught. He silently watched from the large, round window he had for the perfect view of the sphere planet.

"Has anyone found the emerald yet?" He asked one of his troopers.

"No sir," He replied, "Although one group is getting close to it."

"Excellent…" The doctor smirked in anticipation.

**X-X-X-X-X**

Sonic noticed a strange door at the end of the passageway. He ran up to it, expecting a number pad or something to guard it from being opened. Strangely, he found nothing.

"Hey, Tails," He called out to his friend, "Check this out." Tails flew silently next to him, and studied the door. "I can't find any number pads or anything," Sonic said, puzzled.

"That's because it doesn't have any…" Tails mumbled, "That is strange. Almost every door we've walked past has at least one thing that's guarding it. But why not this one…?"

"Its probably nothing," Knuckles assumed, looking around. "Lets just go. The emerald could be anywhere but here."

Shadow continued to walk, but then he froze. He suddenly felt a strong wave of power. "What's happening…?" He whispered. He noticed Tails turn around and gasp, but couldn't make out what he was saying. Suddenly, all he saw was red. He couldn't hear anything, as if he was deaf.

"Shadow!" Tails cried out in panic, "Shadow! Can you hear me?"

"Dude, what's wrong?" Sonic asked the hedgehog, who was now heavily panting. He looked up, and Sonic stared at his eyes in horror, as he watched them turn bloody red.

"Shadow!" He exclaimed, grabbing his shoulders. Shadow grabbed his arm and threw him across the room. He crashed into the metal wall, making a big hole that went through the next room.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, man?!" Knuckles yelled furiously, grabbing Shadow by his wrists. He held up his fist right an inch close to Shadow's face. "You better watch what you're doing, pal," He growled, "Coz I'll take you on."

He then noticed Shadow's evil smirk. "Go to hell, Echidna…" He said darkly. Knuckles then let go of him, staring at the hedgehog, bewildered.

"That doesn't sound anything like you…" Knuckles said in a low voice.

"Watch out!" Tails suddenly yelled, "He's under control by someone!"

Shadow lunged in for an open attack, but Knuckles quickly dodged. Shadow growled, and charged in for another attack. Knuckles held his ground and grabbed Shadow's arms before he could even touch him.

"Snap the fuck out of it, Shadow!" He yelled.

"Shadow!" Tails called out, "We're your friends! There's no need to harm us!" He knew that if he kept on persuading him like that, he would soon come back to his senses. "Think about the emerald! What we are meant to be doing right now!"

He then tried something he hadn't thought of saying, if this happened long ago.

"Think about Rouge!"

Knuckles looked at the fox in shock. _Did he just say that?!_ He thought, astonished. He then felt Shadow's strength weaken, and he watched as his eyes went back to normal. He jerked away from his grip, panting, finding it hard to breathe.

_It worked…_ Knuckles thought.

"Wh…What the fuck happened?!" Shadow asked between pants. He looked down at his hands. "What's happening to me?!"

Sonic stood up, groaning. He twisted his head in a circular motion. "Remind me not to piss you off ever again, Shadow," He muttered. Shadow turned around to face the bruised hedgehog. Sonic looked up at him in alarm, hoping that he didn't angry him again.

"What the fuck happened to you?" asked the dark hedgehog, eyeing Sonic curiously. Sonic grinded his teeth together, holding his anger. He failed.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?!" He yelled in fury, "SEE THIS?!" He stormed up to him, holding out his right arm. Shadow noticed a red burn on his wrist, as if someone had grabbed him very tightly, that it cut his blood circulation. But, being Shadow, he couldn't care less.

"So what?"

Sonic held it closer to Shadow's face, almost hitting him. "YOU DID THIS TO ME!" The blue hero screeched, "YOU EVIL, PHSYCO-"

"Look, Faker," Shadow growled, with a tiny hint of danger, "I wasn't aware of what happened to me. I could not even control myself. So, don't fucking blame this shit on me, alright?!"

"He's right, Sonic," The yellow fox piped up, walking up to them, "He was under control by someone. If I hadn't known better, maybe someone's already got a hold of the black emerald."

His GPS rapidly started beeping, and he took it out. He noticed a large, black dot flashing, and it was right next to them.

"The emerald!" He cried out, "Guys! Its right next to us!"

Sonic eyed the door with no guard whatsoever, and walked up to it. "Is it here, Tails?" He asked the two tailed fox. Tails looked back at the GPS, and nodded.

"Weird," Tails murmured, "Why would Eggman leave such a powerful emerald unprotected?"

"Only one way to find out," said the master emerald guardian, walking up to the metal door. With all his strength, he raised his fists, and punched the door. In a matter of seconds, the door fell down, and inside the room, in a glass case, was the emerald.

"Wow…" Tails gasped in amazement. He flew up to it, until he heard a brief shout from Sonic.

"TAILS! NO!"

What Tails didn't know is that, he accidentally triggered an invisible laser, which set out alarms all around the ship. Eggman's robots of all kinds came out of nowhere, and the boys quickly switched into fighting stance.

"So much for being unprotected," the blue hedgehog said, "Lets go, guys!"

A group of ground robots hurtled his way, and he jumped up, using their heads to run above them. He didn't stop until he got to the very last robot, and was fast enough to make a blue tornado before the robots could even turn around to face him. One by one, the robots got destroyed.

Knuckles noticed a herd of robots with gigantic drills for hands, coming towards his way. " Grr!" He growled loudly, grabbing one robot's drills. He then used it to destroy the other robots. One other robot suddenly came up behind him, but Knuckles was aware enough to dodge the attack. He carefully aimed the drill to the robot, and threw it effortlessly. It hit the robot, causing a huge blow. Knuckles went back to the ground, smirking in pride.

Tails took steps backwards as robots walked towards his way, curling their mechanical fists. The eager fox noticed a metal bar on the corner of his blue eyes, grabbed it and whacked the robots, putting them all in place. Destroyed.

"Not bad!" He grinned, then his eyes widened in shock. He saw a large shadow forming behind him, and he didn't dare to turn around what it was. Instead, he closed his eyes, waiting for the pain and suffering he knew he was about to receive.

"Not so fast."

Tails' eyes weren't quick enough to follow, but in half a second, Shadow was suddenly in front of him, guarding. "Bring it on, you piece of junk!" He yelled to the robot. The robot turned around and focused his red eyes on Shadow, as if he understood what he said. Without warning, the robot started running towards Shadow. The hedgehog nodded towards Tails, and the two-tailed fox threw a red, chaos emerald to Shadow. He caught it without looking, and felt its surge of power.

"Chaos Control!"

Soon, everything around him slowed down completely. Sonic's kick made him look like he was flying in mid air, and got frozen. Knuckles' punch towards the robot made its parts fall apart and thanks to Chaos Control, the screws and springs looked like they were glued in the air. Shadow skated towards the robot and punched it as hard as he could. The helpless robot split apart in half, and in a matter of seconds, Chaos Control wore off, and soon everything was back to normal speed.

Knuckles looked around the room, full of trashed robots. "That wasn't so bad," the guardian said with arrogance. The room filled with silence.

Sonic cleared his throat, to break the uneasy silence. "Well…uh…what are we waiting for? The emerald is right here." He walked over to it, punched the glass open, and grabbed the emerald.

"This thing is a beaut!" He exclaimed, grinning, "I wouldn't mind taking it home and-"

"Sonic?" Tails asked cautiously, "What are you doing?"

"Nothing? Why-HOLY.."

The boys surrounded the emerald, watching it glow bright red. "What's going on, Tails?" Knuckles asked, hoping that the smart fox knew the answer.

"It looks like its being activated or something, I'm not quite sure…" Tails wondered, "Or else, It wouldn't be glowing-SHADOW!"

He gasped as he noticed the ebony hedgehog's fur glow red as well. "What is this?!" Shadow asked, "What the fuck is this?!"

Footsteps grew louder and louder, and the boys turned towards the broken door, ready to fight whoever comes through. But soon, they let down their guard as two females soon came into view.

"What's going on?" Amy asked, as they got there, "Why the alarms? Did you get the emerald?"

"Never mind that, look what's happening to Shadow!" Sonic said.

"Shadow!" Rouge gasped, walking over to him. Shadow stepped back.

"Stay back, Rouge," Shadow warned the treasure hunter, "I might hurt you."

Knuckles gave the ultimate lifeform a dirty look, but Rouge eyed Shadow curiously.

"Hurt me…?" She asked, confused, "What do you mean?"

"Let me answer that for you, my dear."

Eggman stood outside the door, with two troopers by his side, to protect him. "Its finally happening! He has finally found the perfect hedgehog to possess."

"What the fuck are you on about, doctor!" Rouge shouted in rage, "What are you doing to Shadow?!"

"Oh, It's not me who is doing anything, Rouge. Blame it all on him."

"Who exactly is him?" Amy asked, confused and scared at the same time.

"Someone you don't need to know…" The doctor said in a low, dark voice. Then he paused, and smirked. "Oh, and I forgot to mention," He continued, "That emerald you have in your hands, Sonic? It's fake."

"I knew it!" Sonic exclaimed, "Is that why you left the door unprotected?"

"No," Eggman said hastily, "Knowing you and your pathetic little group, I knew you'd have that stupid GPS of yours, and I knew you'd fall into my trap."

"Well, your trap didn't work," Knuckles said with a smug, "As you can see." He looked around the room full of destroyed robots.

Eggman chuckled. Then, he started laughing manically. Then he froze. An evil smirk began to form on his lips. "That was not what I was referring to, Knuckles."

"Explain yourself!" Sonic ordered.

"Very well," Eggman replied, "As you can see, the fake emerald has detected Shadow's presence. And, as you all should know, the black emerald has enough power to control one's self. All they need, is to know that they are in range, and they are theirs."

"Now, the evil one is rising, and there is nothing you can do about it! All you have is a pathetic bunch of weaklings and a possessed hedgehog! Things couldn't be better! Well, for me at least!"

"Fuck you!" Rouge cussed at the doctor, "You ugly bastard!" She was about to dive in for an attack when Sonic noticed that the troopers had guns. It had to take both Knuckles and Sonic to restrain Rouge from attacking.

Shadow suddenly fell to the floor, screaming in pain as he tried to fight back with the demon who is trying to overcome him. Rouge watched in fear as she saw his eyes slowly turning bloody red.

"Shadow! Nooo!" She cried. She turned her head to face Eggman, growling in outrage.

"Fucking piece of shit!" She yelled, still trying to lunge for an attack, but the two boys held her ground. "Fucking stop this bullshit, Eggman!" She continued to yell, "You fucking mother fucker! Fuck you! Fucking go to hell!"

"Oh dear…" Amy whispered. She looked at Rouge, then back to the emerald. Her eyes widened as an idea came to her mind.

"Break the emerald!" She bawled, "Break it!" Tails, who now has the emerald, looked up at her in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

His question was not answered as he saw the pink hedgehog running towards him, with her Piko-Piko hammer out. He leaped out of the way just in time, leaving the emerald in mid air, and watched as Amy, using all her strength, smashed the fake emerald to pieces.

"What!" The doctor yelled in fury, "No!" He watched hopelessly as the smashed bits of the emerald stopped glowing. He then noticed Shadow, who slowly stood up, still a little shaky, and noticed that his fur stopped glowing red.

"Shadow!" Rouge gasped, running up to him. She was just in time to grab him right before he collapsed.

"Argh…my head…" He groaned.

"I'm so glad you're okay…" Rouge whispered, nearly breaking into tears, "I thought I've lost you…"

Shadow looked back up to her, noticing a tear rolling down her cheeks. He lifted his thumb up and gently wiped it away. Rouge smiled slightly, sniffing.

Knuckles watched jealously on the other side of the room, rolling his eyes.

"This isn't over!" Eggman yelled, "He will strike again, and this time, you wont win, Shadow the Hedgehog! Arghhh!"

They watched silently as he walks away with his troopers, hearing his furious yells and shouts. Sonic turned back to the crew.

"Who is this guy?" He asked.

"There's only one way to find out…" Rouge mumbled, slowly standing up. "We have to look for that emerald, and if we do find it, then we will also find that bastard who's behind all this."

"This is insane!" Knuckles suddenly yelled, storming his way up to Shadow. He grabbed him by his wrists and held a fist up to his face, like he did before.

"Knuckles!" Amy gasped in shock.

"Let him go!" Rouge demanded.

"You heard Eggman!" The guardian snapped, "The demon could strike at any second! That makes Shadow dangerous, doesn't it?!"

"What are you getting to?!" Sonic asked, anxiously.

"He could hurt anyone of us," Knuckles said in a low voice, then stopped and looked at the bat. "Anyone," he repeated. Rouge's eyes widened, but said nothing.

"He shouldn't be with us, that is what I'm getting to," He told Sonic, "We can't risk anyone's lives in danger. We'll all continue with the search, but Shadow will have to be with himself."

"No!" Sonic argued back, "Shadow shouldn't be alone. It is also too dangerous for him."

"Well?! What do you want us to do?! Watch as he kills us all one by one?!"

"Both of you, shut the fuck up!" Shadow snapped, aggravated. "Lets stop wasting time and continue with the search, and don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

He tore himself away from Knuckles, walking away.

"How are you sure about that, Shadow?!" Knuckles called out.

Shadow froze, and let out a small growl.

"Just be sure of this," Knuckles continued, ignoring his growl, "If you even lay a finger on anyone of us, you're fucking toast. Got it?!"

Shadow didn't say anything. Instead, he continued on walking.

"You heard me!" Knuckles yelled, "So don't even dare let that demon control you!"

"Lets go, Knuckles," Sonic said to the guardian, placing a hand on his shoulder. The rest of the group started to walk away, and when Rouge, followed them, Knuckles quickly grabbed her arm.

"Huh? Knuckles?"

"Rouge," Knuckles said in a low voice, "Do me a big favor, and stay away from Shadow."

Rouge eyed him uncertainly. "Why?" She asked.

"He is dangerous…" Knuckles replied as calmly as he can, "And I'll never forgive myself if he does anything to you."

Rouge still eyed him, mystified. "Thank you…you're very sweet…but, I don't think that would be necessary." She slowly slipped out of Knuckles' grip.

"I believe in Shadow, Knuckles. I don't just think that he could fight the demon, I know he would."

She gave him a small smile, and followed the others.

Amy ran up to Knuckles, giggling.

"I think YOU just got rejected," She said, grinning.

Knuckles looked at her, annoyed. "Are you saying this because of that stupid floor incident earlier?!"

"Hmm…" Amy thought, then started giggling again. "Partly," She said.

"Well? What's so bad about what she said? You get rejected all the time."

"Not as bad as that one! I mean, ouch!"

Knuckles shook his head, and walked faster. Amy caught up with him.

"Oh, now I know what is going on," She said. Knuckles eyed her, confused.

"You like Rouge, dontcha?" She said in a sing-song voice.

"No, I do not!"

"Oh, stop denying it, it only makes it worse, you know."

"Do you ever shut up?"

Amy was about to reply, until she was cut off by Tails' shout.

"Oh no! Shadow!"

**And that pretty much wraps it up for this chapter, leaving you guys with a cliffhanger, lol. What happened to Shadow? Has the demon finally got control over him? Did he lose it? And yeah. I think this is pretty long for one chapter, maybe I should've broken it into two…Ah well. Anyways, I'm ****tired.**** Its already 3 am here at my place, and I just want to friggin sleep, lol. ****R&R**** guys, and I think I'm updating faster than I expected. Yay! Lol. Yawn, goodnight. xx**


	4. The Envious

**A.N : **Here we are again, yet another chapter. I've been updating like…almost every single day, I've noticed, lol. Which is really not what I expected. But don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's a bad thing at all. Lol. No way. Anyways, I've given it some thought, and I've decided that I might want **fan characters **in this story. If you want yours featured, then just send me a message or something. Thing is, I do want a description of that character…and whether he/she's for the good side (like Sonic), the dark side (like Mephiles) or the neutral side (like Shadow). If by any chance, you do have a picture of it, then that would be awesome. :P Anyways…on with the story.

**The Black Emerald**  
**Chapter Four – **_**The Envious**_

"Oh no! Shadow!"Was what the young fox had yelled out.

Knuckles and Amy ran to the scene, expecting the hedgehog to be possessed again, grabbing Tails by his tails and twirling him around like a cowboy's rope. But, that wasn't what they saw.

"Hold still! You have a piece of metal stuck in your back!" Tails ordered, staring at the small chunk of robot's metal that had been halfway inside Shadow's back.

"That's strange…" Shadow replied, sounding calm, "…I don't feel anything-ARGH!"

"Sorry," Tails apologized, "But I have to get this metal out. I know it hurts-"

"No shit."

"-But we have to get it out. We don't want anymore internal damage in you."

"Tails," Rouge reminded, "He's the ultimate lifeform."

"Still, we have to be cautious."

"You sound just like a mother."

Tails didn't know how to respond to what Rouge had said, whether it was a compliment or a put down, so he remained silent.

But Shadow did not.

"ARGH! Can you quit it?! ARRGHHH!!"

Sonic tried very hard not to laugh. Snorts started coming out of his nose. Shadow looked up at the snickering hedgehog.

"You are dead, Faker. ARGHH!"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA!!!!!"

"This is SO immature…" Amy sighed, a small sweat drop forming above her forehead.

"Can you hurry up?! ARGH! Get this over and done with!"

"I am! But you keep on shouting!"

"Well it hurts!"

"Ok, I'll hurry up then."

"ARRRRGGHHH!"

"See?! That's why-"

Amy stomped over to Tails, pushing him aside gently. "Step aside, Tails, this is how you do it." She pulled her gloves up, and with both hands, she yanked the piece of metal out of Shadow in a flash. Everyone stared at her in disbelief. Shadow turned around to face her, jaws wide open. Amy held up the piece of metal, grinning.

"ARRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

"You are very most welcome, Shadow."

She handed the metal to Tails. "Here you go, maybe you can examine it to find more about Eggman's robots."

"Wow, thanks, Amy!" Tails smiled. Amy smiled back.

"Well? Lets get a move on! The emerald won't come to us by itself, you know." Everyone soon got back on their way. Sonic ran up to Amy, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"That was awesome, Ames."

Amy tried to contain her excitement. "All I did was what someone should have done, no big deal," She said, sounding casual.

Sonic smiled. "Look, I'm sorry I treated you like a kid, I mean, you're right, you do things that we do too. Also better."

"Hey, don't be sorry, I know I can be a little immature too, sometimes," She confessed. Then, she grinned. "Well, that makes us no different now, does it, Sonic?"

"Yeah," Sonic laughed. They both started laughing.

Knuckles, who was behind the group, stared at the two longingly. He watched them for a while, then his eyes drifted back to Rouge.

_What a fine work of art…_He thought silently, looking at her perfectly sculpted body. Her hair swayed gracefully as she turned her head around, and she lifted her soft, slender arms, reaching to…Shadow.

_Why can't I just tell her how I feel…? _He said to himself, feeling a little angry. He focused his eyes on the hedgehog next to Rouge. _Its all because of him!_ He growled, _That bastard took everything away from me ever since he appeared!_He stopped, and sighed. _What am I saying…I had nothing from the start._

He then stood up straight. _That will all change…I'll show Rouge that Shadow's not worth it._ He rushed up next to Rouge, ignoring the hidden glare he felt from Shadow.

"Rouge, can I talk to you for a second?"

Rouge turned around to face him, looking puzzled. "Not now," she said hastily, "I'm kinda busy, as you can see."

She turned back to Shadow. "Hold still, you're squirming too much." She twirled the bandage around Shadow's chest a couple of times, making sure it was tight and enough to cover the scar he had in his back.

"Thank you, Rouge," Shadow said coolly.

"No worries," She smiled.

"Now are you done?!" Knuckles asked, sounding edgy. Rouge rolled her eyes, as Knuckles dragged her back for privacy.

"What do you want?!" Rouge whispered in a haste, "Cant you see I was doing something?!"

"I need to tell you something."

"Like, want or need? Is it something so important that you had to pull me out from helping Shadow-"

"Look, can you stop thinking about him, or anything else, and just listen to me?!"

The jewel huntress looked at him, astounded. "I..I'm sorry," She apologized, still sounding a bit confused.

Knuckles sighed, and gazed at her aqua eyes. "Rouge? …I-"

"We've got company!" Sonic yelled. Knuckles and Rouge both looked towards his way, and saw a group of troopers. "Oh great," Rouge groaned, flying over there to help her friends. Knuckles sighed in disappointment, sitting down on some step, leading towards a mysterious door.

"Why is this so damn hard?!" He yelled to no one, punching the door.

The door creaked as it slightly opened. Knuckles turned around in alarm. "Who's there?!"

"Hello? You knocked, didn't you…?"

**And that's when the OC comes in. If you have one in mind that you want in this story, preferably female for this time (so our poor Knuckles wont get so lonely, lol), then yeah, hit me back. Sorry for the shortness of the chapter, guys, I'm running out of ideas, though. Lol, and for some reason, I just can't get Shadow to saw OW. I dunno why. Anyways, focused on Knuckles a bit for this chapter, so we can actually see what really is going through his head. And yeah...Thats about it, R&R pl0x. xx**


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